Naruto Shippuden Eternal Peace
by Darkeela
Summary: This is a fanfiction that focuses on showing how a conflict of personal standards can affect even the greatest people. In this story, they meet a new character, an original of which I designed specifically to fit in with the clash of existing character personalities. This is my first time publishing a fanfiction, and a work in progress, so feel free to give feedback.


Naruto Shippuden; Eternal Peace

Chapter I

The soft whisper of winds flowed through the Hidden Leaf Village quietly as a small pitter - patter of rain kissed the ground, blackening the concrete to a darker colour then the dreary sky above. A Squad of young ninja stood under the village entrance, their arms wrapped tightly around themselves while they shivered from the cold. Two males and one female, for the most part your typical squad. But then again this was no ordinary squad, as anyone in their village would tell you the same.

Naruto Uzumaki. The village's jinchuriki, only the second jinchuriki ever to be able to control it completely control his tail. He is well known across the five great nations for his endearing feats, for saving his own village, and taking out the Akatsuke. Although the war was won, there remains one obstacle in his way. That is his best friend, Sasuke Uchiha.

Sakura and Sae are his team - mates, and both just as determined, as he is to see Sasuke returned to the village, regardless of the fact that the world now looked at him as a rouge ninja. Despite this fact, it would be their friend, which would be the one to tip the world out of balance.

Footsteps echoed over the path, and a man approaching the three of them slowly, his grey hair seeming to be soaked thoroughly. Even the mask over the left hand side of his face was wet to the point where it was sagging down his face slightly. This caused a slight amusement for the trio at first, until they saw his expression, of which was deadly serious, if not mildly distraught.

"Well it seems our previous mission has been cancelled, for prioritised reasons. We are to see the Hokage immediately." He said in a small, almost frightened voice.

"What?" Naruto cried out angrily.

"What could grandma Tsunade have to bore us about that's more important then an A – rank mission?" He uttered, moving his arms down his chest in defiance and pouting across at the man.

"Naruto for once could you just listen to Kakashi sensei without butting in?" Sakura said, face - palming in disgust.

Naruto shot a filthy look in her direction, poking his tongue out childishly. With a mere roll of her eyes, she turned her attention back to Kakashi. She opened her mouth to say he could continue, only to find that she saw Naruto move in her peripheral vision. Momentarily surprised, she turned her head to see Naruto was right in Sae's face, glaring at him.

Sae did not even bat an eyelid; it was as though he really did not care for how weird Naruto was being at that moment. Suggestively he was quite weird himself, but on a different scale. Both Kakashi and Sakura just stared at the two, looking at each other to exchange expressions. Finally, after a long pause, Sae spoke up.

"I read that when somebody stares at you with a concentrated expression, it is seen as a form of challenge. To become engaged in such challenge you must be the last one to remain eye contact, otherwise you are stepping down to admit the opponent is stronger. I do not want to look at you though Naruto. It really isn't worth the haste."

That sent both Sakura and Kakashi into fits of laughter. Naruto, on the other hand, wore a dumb expression on his face for a few moments, making it even more entertaining for the others. When he finally clicked to what Sae's statement implied, a growl rose from his throat.

"Hey what's the big idea? I just noticed you had a pimple on your face, and was trying to see if it had a head yet!"

It was too much to take; both Sakura and Kakashi fell to the ground in hysterics of laughter. However, it was short lived, as Kakashi stood up and wiped a tear from his right eye. It may have been raining, but the crystal tears of laughter were still visibly distinguishable. Naruto caught sight of it, curiosity making him starts to wonder, but he was unable to say a word as Kakashi spoke.

"The Hokage wants to see us right away. We best get there now; otherwise, she's going to be pretty mad. And to make it worse, she wasn't in the greatest of moods when I last saw her." He said.

The three nodded at him, walking back into the city, clutching a hold of their biceps to try to stay warm.

Not a soul was present around the streets, there was no movement, save for the light drizzle of rain which continuously pattered down upon the buildings, amplifying it's sound, and drowning out any others, if there had been any other sounds. The village seemed to be a ghost town, and it was spooking Naruto and Sakura out, although they would never admit it.

Even through the Hokage's building, not a soul greeted them. It was almost as though something sinister was at work, but it made no sense. There had been people all over the place only an hour ago! Therefore, the posing question was… Where was everybody?

Kakashi rapped his knuckles on the wooden door, only to be surprised when it swung open on its own accord. When the four entered the room, they were surprised to find that it was only the Hokage seated behind her desk in the office, already swivelled around to face them. Sakura spoke up, but was cut off mid sentence.

"Lady Tsunade, where is…"

"You four are late! I know the last mission I gave you was high priority, but this mission that I am assigning to you know is S rank, possibly higher. Moreover, you four are the only team that can do it. There can be no screw ups, and that means you Naruto." She said coldly, glaring at him with a concentrated stare.

A gulp came from his throat as his hand reached up to tug his collar away from his neck nervously.

"On a usual circumstance I would be sending a team of Jonin for this sort of mission. Unfortunately, the target is only a teenager, and we need to be able to have him on side. So younger ninjas are necessary in this case. Aside from that, you three, not including Shikimaru, are the best ninja of your age. On that note, Shikimaru will be replacing you as team captain for this mission Kakashi." She said, almost as if it was a passing comment.

None of them spoke, it wasn't sounding like the usual high ranked mission. In fact, it sounded like an assassination mission. Sae was the only one who was not fazed by this, and for good reason, considering what he had been through when Lord Donzo had been alive. However, he was worried about how the others would react top such a mission, for killing people in cold blood was something of which required no remorse or hesitation, hence why they trained him to feel no emotions at the faction.

"Lady Tsunade, how… Exactly is this mission going to pan out?" Kakashi asked with a worried tone.

"I'm glad you asked." She started.

"You will have a mission of your own Kakashi; I'm sending you to the Hidden Rain Village to see if you can extinguish rumours of the Akatsuke surfacing again. Whether the rumours are true or not, we don't want fear spreading into civilians again when this is supposed to be a time of peace. Shikimaru!" She yelled out, and the door opened once more.

The teenager stepped into the room, both hands dug deep into his pocket. However, he didn't bear the same bored expression as usual. On the contrary, he was alert, if not a little on edge.

"I've heard the conversation so far, but something doesn't add up to me. It sounds like an assassination mission, but if that were the case, you would have chosen a black ops squad to take the target out. Furthermore, Naruto here is too compassionate to kill someone; his heart wouldn't be in it. Sakura is another; it would take something extreme for her to even think about killing someone. She definitely has the capability of doing so, if pushed to the edge. Sae on the other hand would have absolutely no problem at all, seeing as he came into squad 7 because of such a mission. Although, I don't believe he would ever be sent out on such a mission again, thanks to the foundation being closed down after Lord Donzo's death. And for that sort of mission, Kakashi sensei would certainly have been taken along as team leader, if not him, then Captain Yamato, seeing as he was in the Anbu black ops as well."

Everyone in the room fell silent; suddenly they were all questioning the objective. What Shikimaru had said was peculiar, but it was true from all angles. Even Tsunade seemed a little puzzled.

"Thank you for that Shikimaru, you are correct of course. This chosen team are not a team of killers, however in this case it is irrelevant what you are and what you are not. Your mission for the moment is to seek out and rendezvous with a man called Hafudon at the Dona - laze Bridge, which is on the outskirts of the Hidden Mist Village. You will receive further instructions from him."

The five looked at her for a moment, before each giving a quick nod of their head and departing.


End file.
